MMORPG: The Elementalist

The atmosphere inside Aricus Underground Ruins Dungeon was tipped once again.

The air within the dungeon buzzed along with the trembling ground. Numerous Chameleon Spiders and Violetwing Venomspiders swamped out from both ends of the long corridor.

Qin Ruo and the other nine were standing in what seemed like the eye of a typhoon. They stood proud and calm despite the terrifying surge of monsters from every direction.

Steady expressions, composed condensation action, and vivid smiles were plastered on everyone’s face—all of this displayed how confident they were in challenging the dungeon this time.

After all, it was their third time there, their third time facing such an attack…

They no longer had the same type of clumsiness and fear from their first encounter. Even the seemingly endless spider wave did not budge them. In their eyes, those spiders were mere Tier 4 monster that posed no threat to their respective Pets.

They were so confident because the ten-player Party was convincingly protected by twelve Frostramparts, which surrounded the perimeter.

With the Twelve Frostramparts Formation, the spider minions were destined to be crushed.

“Leave it to me.” Noticing that a large group of Chameleon Spiders was about to enter the attack range, Qin Ruo silently signaled Xiaoxiao who stood beside him.

Six Frostramparts were cast stealthily.

Bam!

Enormous frosty aura immediately filled up the entire corridor of the dungeon where the Party stood.

The fast-moving spiders from both ends of the corridor were forced to stop as they were affected by the frosty aura. Chameleon Spiders and Violetwing Venomspiders that entered the effect zone were immediately covered by a layer of thick frost. The frost spread across the monsters’ bodies at an observable speed.

The closer the monsters got to the Twelve Frostramparts Formation, the greater the chilling effect was.

“Now!”

With that command, Little Apple, Brother Da, and Gold Digger Babe along with Slayer’s Heart split into two groups. They dashed towards the two ends of the corridor, carrying Violet Orchid and Violetmoon Devilite’s Blessing Buffs. They jumped courageously onto a Chameleon Spider that was still struggling through the Frostramparts Formation.

“Psystorm!” Following two tender shouts, Violet Orchid and Violetmoon Devilite simultaneously cast two Radiant Priest AoE attack spells from a distance. While disrupting the mind of a small group of spiders, their actions also helped to lessen the pressure on Burning Rose, who had summoned Meteor Shower upon a large area, lighting up half the corridor.

Simultaneously, Violetmoon Devilite’s Pet, “Little Fang” struck too.

Although the Ice Python was only at Level 35, its attack was roughly comparable to a Tier 4 Novice Monster with Violetmoon Devilite’s Buffs. Thus, it could still inflict a considerable amount of damage on Tier 4 monsters. Meanwhile, despite being unable to use continuous Tier 4 AoE attack spells like Million Arrow Sleet, helping Little Apple out by casting some small-scale Frost Bullet and Ice Shard attacks was still something Brother Da could manage.

Another giant Pet in the party was far more relaxed in comparison. Inside the Twelve Frostramparts Formation, a three-meter-long black spider held its ground silently at a corner with a piece of shiny metal hanging from its back.

It was Slayer’s Heart’s Pet, Ironpot.

Previously, Slayer’s Heart did not summon the monster out due to its low level (Level 0) and pathetically short HP bar. (When the level gap was huge, the monster would not gain a lot of Experience Points. Especially when in a group with so many players, the monster would probably just gain one or two points at a time. So he may as well train it individually later on.)

However, now, Slayer’s Heart dared to summon the monster, which carried an unknown metal on its back because they were well protected by the Twelve Frostramparts Formation. In such a monster-dense zone, even one or two points per monster were sufficient to increase the Earth Enchanted Spider’s level.

***

Xiaoxiao had advanced to Tier 4 on the third day of the Graveyard of the Gods’ opening. She currently sat at Level 40. Her Mastery of Million Arrow Sleet had just reached Intermediate Level, but her equipment were way better than the ones Qin Ruo had when he reached the same rank.

As a new member of the Bauhinia League on top of being the first Tier 3 female player to join the Clan, she was taken care of by the League members attentively. She received a set of highest-grade Gold Aquamancer Class Equipment (Level 39) from the League before she proceeded to attempt the Tier 4 Advancement Quest.

After she passed the Advancement Quest that gave her three options to choose from, Violet Orchid and Slayer’s Heart spent a long time to redeem another Gold Aquamancer Equipment Set (Level 40) with attributes similar to Qin Ruo’s demands—higher Condensation Speed, improved Water Element Damage, etc.

The entire set enhanced her Element Condensation Speed by 35% and Water Element Damage by 25%. So, her Million Arrow Sleet attack now possessed an astonishingly high Magic Attack at 180-190 points.

Although it was still way inferior compared to Qin Ruo’s, those stats surpassed most players who were just stepping into the Tier 4 world. Even the Magic Attack of Burning Rose’s AoE spells was not higher than Xiaoxiao’s spells by a lot.

Amid consistent waves of wind-breaking sounds, numerous tiny sleets dropped from above like flying arrows. They fell onto a large area, causing widespread damage to the spiders, with each attack measuring at 600 points.

Burning Rose had changed her equipment set too. Now, she could inflict 750 damage per attack to a single target.

Still, Qin Ruo’s damage was way out of their reach.

His set of Dark Gold Equipment resulted in an AoE Damage that was almost on par with a Field Commander’s attack.

In the Battle Log, multiple entries showed 900 to 1000-point damages being inputted and refreshed at an insane rate.

Group after group of Violetwing Venomspiders were being smacked down like flies as soon as they entered the region where Qin Ruo and Xiaoxiao’s Arrow Sleet’s overlapped.

On both flanks of the region covered by Qin Ruo, Violetwing Venomspiders and Chameleon Spiders were unable to last more than five seconds.

Xiaoxiao took a slightly longer time, nonetheless such farming speed could only be described with one word—insane.

This was especially evident for Ironpot, which was lying dormant at one corner inside the Twelve Frostramparts Formation. Just fifteen seconds into the farming process, a radiance shone from above and fell upon the Earth Enchanted Spider. Though not obvious, the circumference of Ironpot’s three-meter-long body had increased marginally.

“It leveled up in such a short time?”

Slayer’s Heart had just got into position to block off two Chameleon Spiders when he heard the notification and was surprised.

Thirty seconds later…

Ding dong!

Ironpot has leveled up!

In the middle of the corridor, another white radiance fell from above…

Ironpot, Level 2.

Violet Orchid and Violetmoon Devilite were equally shocked by Ironpot’s speedy development.

iLittle Arrow gave up on attacking altogether and pulled out the Battle Log related to Ironpot’s status seeing that her service was not needed due the insane farming speed.

Chameleon Spider has been killed; 2 Experience Points gained.

Violetwing Venomspider has been killed; 2 Experience Points gained.

Chameleon Spider has been killed; 2 Experience Points gained.

Violetwing Venomspider has been killed; 2 Experience Points gained.

The entire list showed that the Pet monster only gained a consistent 2 Experience Points whenever a Spider was killed. Within half a minute, at least more than a hundred spiders were executed inside the long corridor.

As she flipped through the Battle Log, Ironpot’s record refreshed several times before its level went up again.

Now, the Experience Points obtained by Ironpot had doubled from 2 to 4 points per monster killed.

The screen refreshed continuously…

“It’s so quick!”

iLittle Arrow raised her eyebrows and glared at the Earth Enchanted Spider, then she scanned the busy battlefield where the farming was going on intensively. She put her hand on her hip and suggested to Violet Orchid who was healing her at the moment, “Sister Violet! When our Pets hatch, let’s come here and farm their level!”

“Mm, sure.” Violet Orchid nodded with a smile.

Training a Pet’s level at that place was definitely a better option when it was overcrowded in other low-tier zones.

Qin Ruo, who heard the conversation, despised their splurging ways…

The price for Gorefiend Spider parts had risen to 2,000 gold coins per part, so one full set would be priced at 10,000 gold coins. Wasting 20,000 gold coins just to gain access to a private training zone for their Pets… ‘What generous spenders the both of you are. Ladies…”

While he lamented, Gold Digger Babe’s shout was suddenly heard from the front, “It’s the Deathvenom Spider!”

Qin Ruo’s attention was immediately switched. Soon, he smelled a rotten scent from deep inside the dark end of the corridor.

‘Damn!’

Experiencing it again almost caused Qin Ruo to pluck his nose out.

He gulped a large bottle of Mana Potion and endured the odor with everyone for another five to six seconds, only to see the Deathvenom Spider crawl out slowly through the piles of spider corpses and enter the Sleet zone.

A row of tiny, long black arrows shot towards them.

‘Hmph!’

Qin Ruo looked at the shattered black arrows beyond his barrier in disdain. He sneered a little.

He was no longer the old, clumsy Qin Ruo. Normal Tier 4 Minibosses with roughly 200 Magic Attack could no longer threaten him now. The current him could easily kill off the Deathvenom Spider in a one versus one mutual bombardment without the need of any Healing Potion.

Qin Ruo could totally take it slow with the monster, but the Deathvenom Spider’s situation was very “special”…

Qin Ruo could not wait to see the monster meet its end day. The earlier the better!

“Poochie!”

A brown flash immediately dashed to the front line. It bumped the Deathvenom Spider into the Frostrampart Formation’s outer wall mercilessly. Slayer’s Heart quickly followed up. Holding his breath, he spun his Pazuzu’s Warhammer vigorously. In addition to Poochie’s attack and the Sleet, that locked the Boss down. The monster was taken care of in less than half a minute.

Ding dong!

Ironpot’s level increased once more…

As the dust settled, the Earth Enchanted Spider’s three-meter-long body had bloated up close to four meters. Its level rose to 18 after the first wave, and it inched closer to the rank of a normal Tier 3 monster. Poochie and Violetmoon Devilite’s Little Fang also improved to Level 33 and 36 respectively.